As South Africa’s anti-migrant movement passed its self-declared June 30 deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave the country, journalists covering the unrest increasingly found themselves the targets of the very violence they were sent to document. At least 15 journalists have been targeted across South Africa in recent months. News24 journalist Sakhiseni Nxumalo was threatened while filming an assault on a Zimbabwean man in Pietermaritzburg, with protesters accusing him of being a foreigner because of his skin tone and demanding he delete his footage. Days later, a News24 intern covering a demonstration in Boksburg was surrounded by protesters carrying whips who questioned his nationality and forced him to sing the national anthem to prove he was South African. The pattern extends beyond physical intimidation. Journalists at several major outlets, including Business Day, GroundUp, the Sowetan, and the South African Broadcasting Corporation, have faced online harassment, doxxing, and accusations of bias

When John Dramani Mahama was sworn in as Ghana’s president in January 2025, he promised to usher in what he called an era of true media freedom. Eighteen months later, that promise looks increasingly hollow. According to a detailed investigation published by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in June 2026, at least 17 journalists have been attacked in eight separate incidents during Mahama’s tenure, and in nearly every case, no one has been held accountable. What the investigation found CPJ’s reporting is not built on secondhand accounts. Journalists directly involved in each incident were interviewed to determine what, if any, justice they had actually received. The pattern that emerged is stark: state actors were responsible for roughly half the attacks. Police officers, firefighters, and soldiers were behind eight of the assaults, while illegal miners and unidentified individuals attacked the remaining nine. Some of the documented cases include: In every

For years, Peru was regarded as one of South America’s most vibrant media environments. Investigative journalists exposed corruption scandals, uncovered abuses of power, and played a central role in holding political leaders accountable. Today, however, that environment is under growing threat. The deterioration of press freedom in Peru has become one of the most alarming developments for journalism in Latin America. Recent investigations by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) document how journalists face increasing threats from organized crime, political hostility, and institutional weakness, creating what press freedom advocates describe as a steadily worsening environment for independent reporting. A dramatic fall in press freedom The decline is measurable. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Peru has fallen dramatically in the World Press Freedom Index over the past several years, reflecting an increasingly hostile environment for journalists. RSF has warned of a “major offensive against press freedom” in the country, citing